Alternating-current rectifier



July 31,1923- V. F. KING ALTERNATING CURRENT RECTIFIER Filed Feb. 5 1921IIIIIII'I'I-V'I 'I'IIII'IIIVIIIITIIIIIIIIIIIM Fgi i IIIIIIIII I [Iii :iIII/III Hill I 1 van to! .Ittorrz ey Patented July 31, 1923.

VERNON FRANKLIN KING, D1? TONIA'WANDA, NEW "FOE-1K, A

SIGNOB TO KING ELECTRIC IMANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC, 01? FFFALO, NEWYORK, A CORPORATION OF NEV'I' YORK.

ALTEBNA'IING-CU Application file d February To a-ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Vrmvon l ialirwriin KING, a citizen of the UnitedStates America, and a resident oi the city of Tona- Wanda, county 01Erie, and State or New York, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Alternating-Current- Rectifiers, oi which the followinga full, clear, and exact description.

My invention, in general, relates to a de vice for converting analternating current into a direct current, and more particularly to adevice of this nature which is applicable for the charging of storagebatt' Some of the principal objects of my invention have been to providea device which shall be cheap to manufacture; simple and efficient inits operation; and having minimum number of parts, so 21l1't lged thatthe device shall not easily get out or order.

Another object has been to provide a separable vibrating element for n ydevice which. may easily be replaced by anyone w ien necessary ordesirable.

Another object has been to provide a device in which the vibrator shallreceive a sub stantially uniform amount or current, irrespective of theincreased current produced by an increase of line voltage.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the deviceshown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 'l is a side elevation of my device, partly in section.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view or the vibratory unit of mydevice.

Fig. i is a perspective view of the same.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view, taken on line 5 5 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical view, showing the electrical connections andcircuits of my device.

The device comprises a base 10 having a transformer 11 arranged at oneside thereot. This transformer is provided with a core 12 and is held inplace preferably by means of a yoke 13. This transformer is or the usualand well known type, which is designed to step down the voltage of theline current to the voltage of the battery, and,

7 therefore, need not be further described.

5, 1921. Serial No. 442,677.

secured to the base. This support is pro-. vided with two in zi' diyprojecting pads 16 to which tlu core 1., forming the magnetic held oilmy device, is secured. This core is preferably of the la rinated typeand is formed with two vertical legs 18 and it) which are connected attheir top and bottom ends by means of the yoke pieces 20, thus provh aretermed an exciting coil ng coil, respectively.

the vibratory unit of my device which is shown enlarged in Figs. 8, 4:and 5, to which reference is now made. This vibratory unit comprisespreferably an outer casing .26 which is atta hed to the lower dependingleg of an angularly-shaped member 27. vibratory unit is suspended incfrom and supported by the standard 1-1 and the outer casing 26 isdisposed through an aperture 28 termed in the upper crosspiece 29 of thestandard 1%. The lateral leg of the angularly-shaped member 27' isdisposed on top of the cross-piece 29 and keeps the vibratory unit inthe desired position. A second angularly-shaped member 30 is arranged ontop of the member 2'? and insulated therefrom by a strip of insulatingmaterial 31. The lateral legs or the angularly shapcd members 27 and 30are pro vided, respectively, with apertures 82 and so that these legsmay be passed over a screw which is carried by the cross-piece 29 oi theyoke and is in registering position with the ap rtures as the vibratoryunit is passed down through the openin 28 in the cross-piece. The screwis rigidly secured in the cross-piece 29 and is insulated therefrom. Theaperture 32 in the member 27 is sufiieien'tly so that it does notcontact with the screw 34;, while the aperture 33, m the member 30 is ofsuch a size that it ill;

will contact and be electrically connected with the screw. Thus, it willbe seen that the member 27 will be electrically connected with thestandard 14 and the member 30 will be electrically connected with thescrew 34- The screw 34 is connected by means of a lead to the batterybeing charged as will be more fully described hereinafter. A wing nut 36is arranged on the outer end of the screw 34;, whereby the vibratoryunit may be detachably held in place. Arranged within the outer casing26 of the vibratory unit is an armature 37 which is so disposed that itwill face and be preferably opposite the pole pieces 21 of the magneticcore. Arranged at the back of this armature is a spring plate 38; andthe armature 37 and the plate 38 are secured at their upper ends to aflat spring member 39. The upper end of this member is securedmechanically and connected electrically with the depending leg of theangularly shaped member 30. Arranged at the lower end of the plate 38 isan electric contact element 10 which is arranged in juxtaposition with acontact screw 41, carried by the outer casing 26. The contact 10 andcontact screw 11 are arranged on the side of the plate 38 which isadjacent the armature 37 so that when a magnetic flux is passing acrossthe pole pieces 21, the armature 37 will be attracted and draw thecontact 40 in engagement with the contact screw 11. The armature, beingconnected with the plate 38 at its upper end, it will be evident thatthe armature 37 may be drawn beyond a point where the contact element 40engages with the screw 41, thus preventing harsh impact of the contactelements, which greatly increases the life of these elements. hen thecasing is used to close the vibratory unit it is obvious that theportion thereof which lies between the armature 37 andthe pole pieces 21is of nonmagnetic material. If the front portion only of the casing isused as a means for supporting the contact screw 41 it may be of anydesired material.

It is obvious from. the foregoing, that the vibratory unit, which isthepart of rectifying devices that most readily gets out of order, can,in my device, be removed and quickly replaced by anyone, even thoughthey are not familiar with devices of this nature, without having todisturb any connections whatsoever. In making a change of vibratoryunit, it is only necessary to remove the wing nut 36, at the top ofthescrew 34, andlift the unit out of the device, a new one beingsubstituted in its place in a reverse manner. l lien the wing nut 37 isd'awn down tightly upon the top of the member 80, all electricalconnections are made. I, of course, provide my rectifier with an outercasing (not shown) and the construction is of such a nature that thecasing may be sealed while allowing the vibratory unit to be accessiblewithout disturbing the seal on the casing. The vibratory unit ispreferably entirely enclosed so that it cannot be tampered with and itmay be sealed if desired. This makes it possible for a customer toremove and return the vibratory unit to the manufacturer and get a newone at a small cost. \Vhile, in some cases, it is preferable to have thevibratory unit entirely enclosed by a casing, it is obvious that thecasing may be omitted. without affecting the accuracy of the unit, theprincipal object being to provide a unit that can be easily removedwithout having to disconnect any wires.

Reference is now to be had to Fig. (5, where I show in diagram theelectrical circuits and connections of my device. 15 is the storagebattery which is to be charged by the device. is the prin'iary windingof the transformer 11 which is connected to the line that is supplyingcurrent to the device. 17 is a secondary winding of the trans former 11which has its ends connected to the ends of the actuating coil 23,disposed on the core 17, by means of leads =18 and 11). The ends of theexciting coil of the core 17 are connected to the battery terminals 50and 51 by means of leads and 53, respectively;

In this figure the contact element 1-0 with its connected armature 37,its spring plate 38 and its spring 39, are represented by the verticalline which is given a number corresponding to the number of the contact40. The outer casing 2-6, of the vibrating unit and the contact screw 41thereof are represented in Fig. 6 by the arrow there shown, which isgiven the number correspi'mding to the screw 41. As hercinbeforedescribed, the angularlyshaped. member 27 is connected to the standard14 which grounds the screw 11 with the yoke. It is to be understood,however, that the standard 14 is insulated from the base 10. The contactscrew 41 in Fig. 6 is, therefore, shown grounded at 5-1. The batteryterminal 51 is. connected with the lead 418 by means of a lead 55; andthe contact screw 41 is connected. to the lead +19 through the ground54, and a lead 56, which is grounded at 57 to the tandard 14...

Vith the foregoing connections and circuits, it will be clear, that thevertical leg 18 of the core 17 will be energized by the battery 45 andthat lines of force will be caused to flow through this leg of the corein accordance with the polarity of the battery. In a similar manner, thevertical leg 19 of the core 17 will be energized by the current comingfrom the secondary winding 47 of the transformer, and lines of forcewill be caused to flow through this leg in accordance with the directionof the flow of current produced in the actuating coil 23. Assuming thatthe battery polarity and exciting coil 22 is such as to cause the upperend of the vertical leg 18 to be of north polarity and the lower endthereof to be of south polarity, and assuming that momentarily currentin the secondary winding 4-7 of the transformer is such that themagnetic lines of force produced in the leg 19 by the actuating coil 23are such that the upper end of this leg of the core will be of southpolarity and the lower end thereof of north polarity, it will be clearthat the lines of force in both vertical legs will be flowing in thesame circular direction and will unite and flow freely through the core17. \Vhen, however, the direction of current in the coil 23 changes, dueto the alternations of the current in the secondary winding a7 of thetransformer, it is evident that the upper end of the vertical leg 19will be of north polarity and the lower end will be of south polarity.This will produce a magnetic flux in this leg which will beopposite tothe constant flux produced in the leg 18 and will counteract this flux,thus causing the flux from both windings to be diverted through the polepieces 21 and through the armature 37 of the vibratory unit. During thetime that the flux is diverted, it will be clear that the contactelement to will be drawn into engagement with the contact screw 41 andclose a circuit in which current will flow from the primary winding $7of the transformer as follows: from lead 18 to the terminal 51 of thebattery over lead 55, returning to lead 49 from the terminal 50 of thebattery over lead 35, contact element 40, contact screw l1, ground 54(outer casing 26, and angularlyshaped member 27 of the vibratory unitand the metallic standard 1 1) ground 57 and lead 56- The excitingwinding 22 and the actuating winding 23 are, of course, such that whenthis circuit is closed through the path just above described, thecurrent coming from the winding 17 will be unidirectional wit-h thecurrent of the battery. It will be clear that when the contacts of thevibratory unit areclosed, and the current from the winding 4:! isflowing through the circuit just above described, the windings 22, 23,and 47, will be connected in multiple with the battery -15. Itis, ofcourse, obvious, that this flow of current is used to charge the storagebattery. Just as soon as the cycle of the alternating current changes soas to make the polarity of the leg 19 as first above described, theflux, which has been diverted through the poles 21, will again flowthrough the closed core 17 and allow the contacts 10 and 4:1 to beseparated, thus opening the above described circuit, through which thecurrent from the charging source is flowing in a direction opposite tothat of the polarity of the battery. When this circuit is opened thelines of force produced by the coils 22 and 23 will again flow in thesame direction, the

core being large enough in cross-section to carry the flux produced bythese coils.

My device is so constructed that a. definite amount of flux will bediverted and pass through the armature 37, thus producing a flow ofcurrent to the battery which is of substantial constant value,irrespective of an increase of voltage in the line current This isaccomplished by reason of the fact that if the magnetic flux produced inthe leg 19 is greater than the flux produced in the leg 15, this addedflu will flow through the leg 15 in a direction opposite to the fluxproduced therein.

t is, of course, obvious that suitable resistances may be employed forthe purpose of cutting down the amperage supplied to the batterywhentthe line voltage is increased or to step the phase of thealternating current ahead so that the battery may get the maximum amountof current during the charging cycle. If desired, the pole pieces 21 maybe omitted and the side faces of the yohe pieces 20 be used as poles forthe leakage fiuX. 1n the claims, these side faces are referred toealragc i'luX poles. lihe foregoing modifications of the detailsllfii'slll shown and described, as wells as others which will beapparent to those skilled in the art, may be made without dcparting fromthe spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims; and I donot, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shownand described, the form described being merely a preferred embodimentthereof:

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an alternating current rectifier, the combination with a magneticcore, having pole pieces, of a support carrying the core and polepieces, a separable vibratory unit arranged across the pole pieces anddetach ably carried by the support, the vibratory unit comprising acasing, a member secured to the casing, a second member carried by andinsulated from the first member, a vibrating; armature carried by thesecond member, contact means connected with the easing and the armature,and means carried by the support for electrically connecting the membersof the unit with the electric circuits of the rectifier.

2. In an alternating current rectifier, the combination with a magneticcore, having poles, of a support carrying the core, a separablevibratory unit arranged across the poles and detachably carried by thesupport, the vibratory unit comprising an attaching member, a secondattaching member insulated from the first member, a vibrating armaturecarried by the second member, contact means carried by the armature andthe first member, and means carried by the support for electricallyconnecting the members pole pieces, of a support carrying the core,

a separable vibratory unit mounted on the support and across the polepieces, the vi bratory unit comprising a casing, a vibratory armaturesuspended within the casing and insulated therefrom, contact meanscarried by the casing and the armature, and means carried by the supportfor electrically connecting the members of the unit with the electriccircuits of the rectifier.

at. In an alternating current rectifier, the combination with a magneticcore, of aseparable, vibratory unit embodying suitable electricconductors, a support for the core, the support having attaching meansforming one permanent electric connection, an attaching screw insulatedfrom the support and forming another permanent electric connection, thevibratory unit being carried by the attaching means and the attachingscrew, and means for detachably securing the vibratory unit in position.

5. In an alternating current rectifier, the combination with a magneticcore having poles of a support carrying the core, a separable, vibratoryunit mounted on the support and across the poles, the vibratory unitcomprising an attaching member, a vibratory armature carried by theattaching member and insulated therefrom, contact means carried by theattaching member and the armature and means carried by the support forelectrically connecting the members of the unit with the electriccircuits of the rectifier.

6. In an alternating current rectifier, the combination with a magneticcore, having pole pieces, of a separable vibratory unit arranged acrossthe pole pieces, the vibratory unit comprising two attaching members,insulated one from the other, a vibrating armature carried by one of themembers, contact means carried by the armature and the other member andmeans carried by the support for electrically connecting the members ofthe unit With the electric circuits of the rectifier.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

VERNON FRANKLIN KING.

